The other day I received a notice of a class action settlement regarding Troyk vs. Farmers Group Inc. It seems like recently I get about one of these a month. This one caught my attention. I have not been with Farmers Insurance for some time and during the period in question I must have been with them for only a brief time.
The class representative in this case is claiming that monthly service charges collected for monthly billing and payment of premiums on Farmers Insurance Exchange auto policies in California and Nevada were illegal. So Farmers is settling the case and the settlement notices go out to current or former policy holders.
As a former policy holder I am entitled to a check for $37.50. Mr. or Mrs. Troyk is entitled to $5,000 for his or her costs, time and effort as acting as the class representative. And the law firm representing “my interests” is getting $5,400,000. This law firm is none other than Bill Lerach’s former firm, Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins. Did I mention that Bill Lerach is serving two years in a federal prison?
The lawyer for Coughlin handling this case is Timothy Blood. Sort of a fitting name for a consumer attorney. Something about a shark smelling blood in the water, but I won’t go there. Mr. Blood is also on the Board of Governors for the Consumer Attorney’s of California, which has funneled millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of California politicians.
I can assure you that Mr. Blood is not representing “my interests.” He is simply furthering the biggest sham in legal history – class action lawsuits. His former boss was so good at it he is in a federal prison.
The only way you can get out of this settlement is if you mail or deliver a written request for exclusion to the Clerk of the court. With that request you need to include your Farmers policy number and your Prematic account number. Give me a break. No wonder people keep demanding that this process be reformed.
What is it going to take to get real reform when it comes to class actions? The legislature in California repeatedly has defeated any attempt to reform this predatory practice. People need to rise up and stop this sham. The only ones benefiting from it are people like Mr. Blood.
Cross Posted at www.cala.com